This invention relates to collapsible escape equipment for passengers and especially to the supporting falls for supporting and lowering this equipment from davits mounted on an elevated platform or deck. For example, falls of this type are used to support inflatable rafts for evacuating people from offshore oil production platforms in the event of fire or other emergency. They may also be used for evacuating people from ships at sea.
It is desirable to use a fall for launching more than one raft so that after one raft has been loaded and lowered to the water the fall can be disconnected and raised to a position where it can be attached to another raft and the launching operation repeated. This is difficult to do where the fall hangs from a davit which extends outward from the edge of the deck causing the fall to be spaced out of reach of persons on the deck.
In the past, a pole with a hook on the end has been used to recover the fall; however, this has been difficult and time consuming especially in a high wind. It has also been inconvenient to recover the fall on the side of the davit where the raft is located when the wind is blowing towards the other side where the operator must stand to reach the fall. It has also been found that fastening a recovery line to the fall is not desirable because this line can become fouled during the lowering process which may pull the raft into the side of the deck structure or the side of the ship causing an upset or damage to the raft. Since time is of the essence in evacuating persons during an emergency, a system is needed which is quick and reliable as delay can cost lives.